3: The Desertion of Vienna for Paris
Gluck expended a huge amount of energy trying to reform operatic practice in Vienna, but, in the end, he felt undervalued and ignored. He left for Paris in the early 1770s and established his reputation in the French capital with a newly composed French version of his Italian opera Alceste. Donald Macleod introduces excerpts from both versions, including the classic recording of Divinites du Styx by Maria Callas and the whole of Act 3 of the French version with Jessye Norman in the title role.